United States-Market Update Q4

United States-Market Update– Q4

LEISURE TRAVEL

America West

• Entertainment Travel
• 21st Century Fox
• For the past year, Rupert Murdoch has made an attempt to acquire Sky News, an international media broadcaster, based in the UK. This attempt has been provisionally rejected by a British regulator, which may affect the acquisition of multiple factions of 21st Century Fox by The Walt Disney Company. So far, these business dealings have not begun to change the landscape of corporate travel, but if these deals do come to fruition, we can expect to see a major shift in how travel is handled between Fox and Disney.
• Sony Corporation
• In the 2018 RFP season, we saw a significant increase of Preferred Hotels & Resorts acceptances in key markets globally. It was a successful season to add new hotels that had completed strong business cases in their corporate survey entries. The increase was also due to the consolidation of the travel management process within Sony Corporation. The Sony Tokyo office was required to give their recommendations to the global travel team in Los Angeles, California this year, which resulted in additional hotels in Asia receiving proper bids in Lanyon. Prior to this shift, many negotiations were being handled through the local office.
• Leisure Travel
• Top Domestic Leisure Destinations Q4
• New York
• Boston
• San Francisco
• Nashville
• Hawaii
• Aspen
• Las Vegas
• New Orleans
• Dallas
• Beverly Hills
• Top International Leisure Destinations Q4
• Hong Kong
• Amsterdam
• Paris
• Barcelona
• Copenhagen
• Dublin
• New Delhi
• Singapore

Contacts for this market are Maya Latinovic and Michelle Minassian based in Southern California.

America Central

• “Travelers want to see the world. They are no longer content with staying in one place. Whether it’s visiting the far corners of the earth on a world cruise, hiking through remote Machu Picchu or tasting local cuisines through cooking schools, travellers want unforgettable, one-in-a-lifetime experiences.” The top 10 dream destinations also reflected readers’ longing to visit far-off lands, with Australia, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa and Greece nabbing the first five spots. Paris held onto its reign as the most romantic city to spend time with a loved one, as well as the best gourmet city. Rome remains the city with the most beautiful architecture, and Tuscany continues to be the wine region travellers want to toast the most. Going on a safari to Africa wold merit the best outdoor adventure.
• Fifty-seven percent of Americans are saving money for travel, a percentage that jumps to 65% with millennials. Among the survey’s generation Z respondents, 71% said they would get a part-time job to save money for a trip. Forty-nine percent of both millennials and Generation Z would sell clothes or furniture for travel money. Generation Z likes “adventure experiences such as exploring and trying new things more than anyone else”, according to the study. They also want connectivity, with one-third of Generation Z respondents saying Wi-Fi is an “absolute necessity”. They also prefer long weekends, a trait they share with millennials and Generation X. As far as travel companions, 54% of Generation Z respondents said they usually or always travel with their family, and 55% said their parents pay for their travel when traveling together. Millennials, too, benefit from their parents’ likely deeper pockets, with 24% saying their parents paid for their joint travel.
• New and Upcoming Trend….”Skip-Gen Travel” – What does this mean? According to several sources in the industry, skip-gen travel grandparents and grandchildren traveling together, leaving parents behind is on the rise. Cruise Planners predicted skip-gen trips will be big in 2018. The generational-focused trips might be a good suggestion for boomer clients with grandchildren or millennial clients with grandparents looking to get away with relatives. Multigenerational travel, a close relative of skip-gen travel, also tops the travel trends.

Contact for this market is MaryAnn Rodriguez based in Chicago, Illinois

America Northeast

• Florida was very popular for the holidays because of the hurricanes in the fall.
• While attending USTOA many of the tour operators were explaining that volunteer travel, was very popular.
• Millennials are not looking for the typical destinations, but more out of the box experiences. Uganda was a big interest as it is a unique destination.

Contact for this market is Jamie Brown based in New York.

CORPORATE/BUSINESS TRAVEL

America West

• New PH&R Chain Agreements
• The Capital Group
• Broadcom
• New Dynamic Chain Agreements
• 21st Century Fox
• BCBG/Global Brands Group

Contacts for this market are Emily Reynolds based in Northern California and Michelle Minassian based in Southern California

America Central

• Monsanto/Bayer – In December, German chemical and pharma major Bayer expressed confidence that it would secure the 66 billion dollar acquisition of US-based biotech major Monsanto. India is one of the 30 countries whose approval is needed for the merger to go through. As many as 14 countries have approved the merger. The company has secured one approval in the US, while one more is pending. European Union’s clearance is also awaited.
• Target Corporation has bought grocery delivery platform Shipt Inc. for $550 million in cash, promising same-day delivery of all goods by the end of 2019 to lure customers that have turned to online retailers such as Amazon.com Inc.
• Rockwell Collins – United Technologies to acquire Rockwell Collins. For 2018, the RFPs are separate. No info provided yet for 2019 RFP season.
• Cargil RFP will be launching in Q1 of 2018. Hotels interested in participating in 2018-2019 hotel program should complete the Corporate Survey with a strong business case. The next Cargill RFP will be valid July 1st, 2018-June30th, 2019.

Contact for this market is Laura Mori based in Chicago, Illinois

Northeast

• Travel Leaders is still negotiating their program.
• Lockheed Martin is still going through negotiations.
• World Bank has limited their hotels but they did entertain two new hotels for us.
• Some existing accounts were receptive to the Preferred Residence program.

Contacts for this market are Wen Yong and Jamie Brown based in New York City, New York